Conversations with a trailing partner

As a trailing partner, my dream scenario is to find a part-time or freelance job, that I love doing and can fit around the life that I've made for myself here, in my home away from home. A job where I can use my skills, get my sense self and my purpose, while not taking over life. Sadly, I haven't found this miracle job yet. But my guest speaker found the job she was looking for, after arriving in China as a trailing partner. She started work, and three weeks in things went topsy turvy due to a global pandemic. So, how do you manage your work/life/children/home/etc. during a global pandemic then? Lindsay Mahon Rathnam talks about her experience of travelling, working and living during the pandemic.

Language forms a big part of our identity. And being able to share your language with others is a joy. Sadly, not everyone manages this very successfully. But our guest today has. It was important for her that her son speaks her language. And in the process of teaching him, she's helped lots of other, perhaps slightly perplexed parents, retain the Russian language for their children.

In this episode, we talk about how food binds us to our identity. Especially when you're away from your home country, familiar food becomes even more comforting. Trailing partners are often holding the fort on the home front, providing comfort and nourishment. But in a new country, that might not be so easy. Our guest talks about her journey; finding the food she liked, cooking it, and teaching others the arts of mindful and respectful cooking.

What gender comes to mind when you hear trailing partner; male or female? While it is more synonymous with women, male trailing partner do exist. In today's episode, I speak to my friend Tony Winton, who trailed his wife to Thailand and then to China. He talks about his journey, challenges, and how he found a new career path whilst living overseas. We also talk about perceptions, and the need to change them.

What characterises one as a trailing partner? I thought not working, and being financially 'dependent' was a precursor. It turns out, that's not always the case. My guest in this episode arrived in China with her employment secured, worked for the majority of the ten years she's spent here, but identifies as a trailing partner. In this episode, we talk about how she sees herself as a trailing partner, despite securing employment, how she dealt with a community which was mostly geared towards single-income families, and how she overcame alienation and isolation in a community which was used to day time socialising!

What happens when you find yourself in a new country with an infant? Away from everything familiar? How do you cope? And how do you find your village? In this episode, I talk to Geertje Van Der Wel from the Netherlands, who talks about motherhood, living overseas and finding your village.

How do you find your sense of purpose, self worth, and validation in the absence of a career? In this episode, I talk to Aylin Altintop about putting her career behind her, and embracing her identity as a trailing partner. She talks about finding joy and fulfillment in new found interests.

This episode focuses on the content (happy) trailing partner. Not implying that the rest of us are really unhappy, but does the content trailing partner exist, or is this the unicorn of global living? In conversation with Priscilla Koh-Pozzi, we talk about letting go, embracing new cultures and living in the present, to truly become the content trailing partner!

What does a trailing partner mean? The term was first used in the Wall Street Journal in 1981, describing a person who follows his or her partner to another city or country on a work assignment. Is a trailing partner always a non-working, dependent? Is the term directly related to one's ability to earn? Or just the degree of control they exercise over their own fate/lives/mobility? This episode is a conversation between two 'trailing partners' discussing what the term means for them.

Ever wondered what a trailing partner is? Neither did I, till I became one. In 2018, my family and I moved to China from the UK, and I became a trailing partner. Two years on, I have a better handle on what it means to be one, and it's not all day time drinking, beauty treatments, and dinner parties. Join me, as I speak to women and some men, from all walks of life, and all over the world, discussing their journey of becoming trailing partners, and what it means for them.